Halved and Whole
by FeatheredMask
Summary: After waking up from a coma lasting a week, Ryou's father sent him to another school, where the shadows twist and fade. During his stay, Ryou discovers two more realms: one screams, one makes him scream.
1. Meet Ryou Bakura

**Important Notes:**

If you're new to either anime, you'll find that a decent explanation will probably accompany anything specific to the animes. If you're reading from a Bleach char's POV, I'll assume you haven't watched Bleach. If you're reading from Ryou's POV, I'll assume you know nothing about him. If there is still confusion, put your inquiry in a review and I'll explain or tell you that it's not part of canon.

Winter War has not happened yet, but after Rukia's rescue from Soul Society. Might include it in the plot. Or might make it so the Winter War never happens. Time in Bleach uncertain-suggest something, anything. Right now, I'm planning on making up the entire timeline as I go along. The timeline before any of this story happens, is a bit messed up, but mostly untouched. Ryou's mere presence will turn both Soul Society and Hueco Mundo upside-down.

Time in Yu-Gi-Oh -after the series. I'm going to pretend that the Ring reappeared soon after. Yami Bakura plays an important part in this.

There will be a few Japanese words in here, but not too many. I don't want to confuse the readers -or myself, for that matter- with an excess of foreign words. As such, the only words used will be either specific to their respective animes or are widely known in the fandoms. The thing the Japanese have with their names is still confusing to me -and might be confusing with parts of the story, since one character, in canon, is very rude with honorifics- so I'm using names how English-speaking people do.

Hollow -Will be explained later. For now, it's a black, giant creature with a bone white mask. Can be any shape or size.

* * *

><p>Everyone sat in their seats; a rare occurence, but not in this class. All of the students had either come from gym, which had tired them to the point of falling asleep, or biology, which was taught by a teacher who loved lectures and always talked in a monotone. Thus, nearly everyone found themsleves nodding off.<p>

The only student not suffering from the brutal gym syllabus found himself staring out the window, hoping for a hollow to demolish a building. Now, he didn't look forward to mass funerals and heaps of debt to pay for repairs. Ichigo Kurosaki wanted a fight. Something tiring to spend the lingering effects of adrenaline on.

The bell rang, but the teacher made no move to start teaching, her nose buried in a romance novel. Most students followed her example, by either finding a comportable position to sleep in or reading a book.

There was a knock at the door, and the teacher jumped up, startling the few students not yet asleep. Blush still high on her cheeks, she opened the door. Seated in the far corner of the room, Ichigo wasn't able to see who stood on the other side.

"Yes, you must be the new student! Come in, come in."

The newcomer stepped in, and Ichigo couldn't help but be reminded of Toshiro. This student had the same pale complexion and white hair, but that was where the similarities ended. The white hair was longer and didn't spike straight up, and the student was taller than the tiny taicho.

"Sorry for asking, but are you a boy or girl? I spilled coffee on your file earlier." The teacher blushed in her embarrassment, if that was possible at the moment.

A similar blush appeared on the student's face. A reply was spoken in a soft voice, too quiet for Ichigo to hear.

"Ah, thank you. Again, sorry."

She addressed the rest of the students, "Everyone, this is Ryou Bakura. He transferred from Domino High."

"It's nice to meet you all." Ryou bowed, the blush gone. He seemed at ease, not uncomfortable in the least at the prospect of changing schools.

As Ryou brought his head back up, Ichigo heard the faint sound of metal clinking against metal. He noticed a golden pendant hanging from Ryou's neck, roughly the size of his hand, with five prongs. The prongs swayed and clinked when they met, telling him that they made the sound.

"I didn't realize you'd be coming today. If I had known I would have had another desk brought in. For now you can sit at Mizuki's desk. She's absent today."

The teacher put a textbook on the only empty desk by the window. Ryou bowed again, and slid in to the seat in front of Ichigo's.

Throughout the lesson, Ichigo noted that Ryou had a few...quirks, with lack of anything more appropriate to call them.

From the start, the boy tugged at his hair a few times, stopped in the middle of jotting down notes only to continue a few seconds later, massaged his temples, looked around the room, and even turned to stare at Ichigo at one point.

Out of habit, Ichigo had glared and scowled, but Ryou seemed unaffected. After that, the new student went back to his textbook.

Ryou stiffened and the pencil in his hand slid on to his notebook. He glanced out the window and glared.

Ichigo looked out the window too, but saw nothing. He raised an eyebrow at Ryou, who continued glaring out the window. Ichigo sighed, and decided to try to understand where they were in the textbook. That is, until his Soul Badge started beeping.

Caught unaware, Ichigo jumped. He checked if anyone had seen, but thankfully, no one did.

Except for the owner of those wide red eyes.

Who happened to be staring at the Soul Badge.

Before he could think anything of it, Ichigo heard a howl. He looked out the window and almost swore aloud. A hollow.

He noticed Ryou's eyes snap back to the window and at the black monster.

Ichigo grit his teeth. If he made an excuse to leave now, Ryou would no doubt be suspicious when Ichigo, dressed in strange clothes and wielding an oversized butcher's knife, killed the hollow.

He could wait and let Rukia take care of the hollow. He relaxed, but tensed again at the reminder that Ryou would see her, and would recognize her when he saw her in another class.

Ryou whispered something Ichigo wasn't able to make out. He assumed Ryou had said a prayer in another language. He held back a snort. The boy was probably scared out of his wits at the appearance of the 'demonic' beast. Ichigo heard another howl, and scanned the area for a second hollow. A glance at the first hollow made him pause in his search.

Why wasn't it moving? Was it...shaking?

Indeed, the giant, masked, centipede-like _thing_ was trembling.

The shadow cast from the building seemed to spread. Ichigo squinted and checked for clouds to make sure it wasn't his eyes or the light playing tricks on him. Nothing. No tricks. His curiosity forced him to watch as the shadow grew enough to cloak the entire hollow.

Ichigo could see Rukia at the edge of his vision on the ground, staring at where the hollow was. The shadow gradually retracted, as if by a trick of the light. Ichigo tried to find the hollow in the dark area. His brow furrowed in confusion. The hollow had been there a minute ago, hadn't it?

"-chigo!"

Ichigo's mind snapped back to the classroom, and to the annoyed teacher, who sighed. Everyone stared at him. Silence. Not even his Soul Badge beeped anymore.

"Ichigo, I asked you a question."

Ichigo scratched his chin, as though just waking up. "Sorry, sensei, I zoned out. What was the question again?"

The teacher frowned. "What constellation do the Great Pyramids mirror?"

Ichigo frowned. They were at Egypt already? He flipped a few pages in his book before Ryou's brown eyes caught his. Ryou mouthed something to him.

"Orion's Belt," Ichigo answered. The teacher pursed her lips.

"Correct. At least Ryou was listening."

Ryou blushed, and as his hair covered his eyes when he looked down, his blush deepened.

A dozen questions in his head, Ichigo watched Ryou for the rest of class. All of his ticks disappeared for the rest of the class. When the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, Ryou fled the classroom.

* * *

><p>Disclaimer to cover entire story if I forget in some chapters: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Bleach.<p>

While writing this chapter in my little notebook of doom, I kept writing 'the boy' instead of 'Ryou'. When I think of Ryou, I think of a little boy. Strange. Maybe it's because Ryou has white hair, just like Toshiro, who happens to look like a little boy.

In the first chapter, I always introduce the problem. Readers, meet Ryou.


	2. Yadonushi

Ryou Bakura will be referred to as Ryou, Yami Bakura will be referred to as Bakura, to avoid confusion. Ryou might refer to Bakura as Yami sometimes. Yami Yugi will be referred to as Atemu or the Pharaoh. Malik will be called Malik Ishtal; his yami will be called Mariku, to keep things simple.

The control Bakura and Ryou has over the shadows is not necessarily canon. I'm making most of it up for the sake of the story.

_/Bakura to Ryou/_ -Thoughts only. In spirit form, he's free to talk "like this," or _/like this./_

_/Ryou to Bakura/_ -The actual story will also count as Ryou's thoughts when in Ryou's POV. Bakura can hear everything Ryou thinks, unless Bakura is asleep or blocking Ryou.

When speaking aloud to each other or when one is talking while outside the body, they speak in normal quotations.

Hikari -Light

Yami -Dark, darkness

Yadonushi -Landlord, host

* * *

><p><em>Dullest. Conversation. Ever./_

Ryou sighed after he closed the door to his new apartment. He thought his conversation with the Orihime girl was pleasant. Evidently his dark half thought otherwise. Still, he asked, "How so?"

The Millennium Ring flashed, and a translucent copy of Ryou appeared in the room, lounging on the recliner. The copy had slight differences to separate him from Ryou, namely the copy's red eyes and sharper features.

"It was an interrogation. She fired questions at you, and you, being the boring yadonushi you are, answered them without asking a question in turn. You didn't even let me ask a question."

"It would have been rude."

"You, Yadonushi, make for a boring conversationalist."

Ryou discarded his bag on the table, and flipped open his abandoned suitcase to unpack. He had arrived at the apartment early that morning, and had decided to sleep in to make up for the loss of the night. When he woke up, he headed to the school to fill out the papers and receive his uniform. After, the principal managed to convince Ryou to attend his classes that same day, but as he had slept in, there was only one class before the end of the day.

During that class, the spirit of the Ring had made fun of him because the teacher 'thought he looked like a girl', and insisted on commenting on every little thing said in the class about Egypt.

Ryou paused in his recount of the morning as he lifted a serrated knife and watched the light reflect off of it. Bakura, knowing what he was thinking, chuckled.

"What else did you smuggle in my suitcase?" Ryou sighed.

Ryou found himself shoved into his soul room with all connection to the world outside of his mind cut off. After a few minutes, Bakura returned control of the body to Ryou, who found his suitcase significantly lighter and the spirit smirking at him from the chair.

The innocent host set about hiding the smuggled, probably illegal, blades in various niches in the apartment. He knew Bakura would take control and bring them back if he got rid of them.

In class, Bakura had taken over when the hollow appeared nearby. The hollow hadn't been in sight, so Bakura had to wait to command the shadows to kill it. Before it appeared, a beeping had gone off, and no one but the boy behind him had noticed.

Ryou frowned. "Before that, you told me to be on my guard around him. Why?"

"He gives off a feeling similar to the twisted shadows the hollows do, but it's different somehow. Like it's fighting with something else for dominance."

Ryou nodded and paused in hiding lethal weapons as Bakura sent him the memory of the feeling through the mental connection.

"And that badge thing. It started beeping soon after the shadows told us about the approaching hollow. No one else noticed it and it stopped after the shadows devoured the hollow, so I think it could detect hollows."

"What ticked you off? The fact that it was screaming 'hollow' over and over?"

Bakura grinned. "Ryou, I never knew you could be sarcastic. But that's not the point."

"Then what is?"

"What's a high schooler doing with a hollow detector?"

Ryou answered with a question: "What's a high schooler doing with an Egyptian pendant housing a dead thief king?"

"His _father_ gave it to him," Bakura shot back, both in something of a conclusion to his own question and dislike of Ryou's father.

Ryou glared at Bakura for the insult, but as glaring made him look adorable, he shook his head and said, "I doubt his father would have given him an object that would announce his location to the hollows."

"Maybe he gave it to him because he doesn't spend any time with the boy."

"Maybe his father didn't know what it was!"

Bakura smirked and had the nerve to look smug, like he had won an argument. He hadn't won as much as an argument, but he did succeed in angering his host.

Ryou took a deep breath, and concentrated on his body, which was shaking. Once the trembling had ceased, he felt a pain in his right hand and found he had clenched his fist around the thorny hilt of yet another blade, this one a curved dagger.

Wothout a word, he went to the bathroom to find antibiotics to daub on the punctures.

Bakura laughed, a chilling cackle that shouldn't have sent shivers up his spine, yet did. The laughter intensified at that thought.

"I'll be taking the body out later, Yadonushi."

* * *

><p>Note on the serrated knife: In nearly every fanfic I could find that wasn't AU, Ryou hid numerous blades on his person and in his clothes. And he always had some sort of serrated blade.<p>

Short chapter. But still longer than the usual.

I had so much trouble editing this chapter. There are still so many kinks I have to work out for this story to make sense, and there are so many directions I can take the plot it's ridiculous! I'm used to thinking of a conflict that's almost impossible to think of a plot for, and the plots I do come up with are few and the stroke of genius is easy to pick out. But with this story, a million possibilities lay before me! It's annoying!

So... Think it would screw anyone over if I made Ryou and Uryu cousins or something?


	3. Everyone Has Secrets

See chapter two for any questions you might have pertaining to the Yu-Gi-Oh part of the story. If those don't answer your questions, ask in a review.

For those of you who did review, I must make it clear that you have brought me great joy, because that's the most reviews I have ever recieved in such a short time period. (Even though I have 14 stories) You gave me a few ideas, too. Corisanna's review helped me patch up an idea I have. Never heard of a Fullbring before. But, Ryou and Bakura aren't that. Ryou is also not getting Quincy powers. That would create a confusing plothole in the story.

If you've watched Bleach, you know it looks like Uryuu has blue hair. If you've paid attention to YGO anime, you [might] know that Ryou's father has blue hair. Insta-click in my head! Ryuken doesn't have blue hair, but Uryuu's got to get that color from somewhere. It's a random plot idea to make things interesting.

The question of Ryou's and Bakura's powers will be answered next chapter.

Mwahaha. Everyone has secrets, some more than others.

* * *

><p>"What did you do?" Ryou asked as soon as Bakura put him back in control.<p>

Ignoring the resounding cackle, Ryou surveyed his surroundings and checked his person. The sight of the apartment made some of the weight lift from his shoulders, but he didn't stop there. He still wore his school uniform, so Bakura hadn't returned before morning. He emptied his pockets; no lead figurine with a trapped soul, no jewels that looked as though they belonged around the meaty neck of a wealthy entrepreneur. Next, his wallet: no change in the amount.

_/Do you _expect_ me to multiply your money overnight? Hikari, I didn't think you cared!/_

Ryou ignored Bakura again. He patted himself down, careful to avoid the many hidden blades. No hidden items-

Ryou stuck his cut finger in his mouth. Scratch that, Bakura found himself a new knife.

There was a knock at the door. Ryou pulled out the new knife and hid it under a chair. No need to cut an arm off when he could wait until Bakura taught his body to subconsciously avoid the blade. Muscle memory was an amazing thing. He opened the door.

"Good morning, Ryou! I thought that since we live in the same apartment, we could be friends. I want to introduce you to my other friends, and I thought it would be best if I had plenty of time so you could all get to know each other."

"Good morning, Orihime," Ryou greeted with a smile. "Can meeting your friends wait? I haven't had breakfast ye- Well, I guess it won't hurt to skip breakfast this one time."

Orihime tilted her head, a confused frown on her cute face. "Are you sure? I can-"

Ryou cut her off, "No, it's fine." He grabbed his shoulder bag and made sure to lock the door on his way out.

"Hooray!" The girl seized Ryou's hand and with much more force than he had been ready for, pulled him along, Bakura laughing at his stumbling hikari.

"Rukia! Ichigo!"

Orihime dragged Ryou across the street to where two teens wearing similar uniforms had stopped. The shorter raised a hand in greeting.

"Hi, Orihime! Who's this you brought?"

The tallest out of all four of them, an imposing figure similar to the leaders of gangs Bakura would abandon Ryou with, stared at the albino, and the spirit's laughter ceased.

_/The shadows are confused about him./_

Ryou's gaze dropped to the sidewalk, to the shadows basking where the morning sun let them escape.

He noticed his own shadow, blacker than any, which he knew to be Bakura, as it always disappeared whenever the yami was in spirit form.

Orihime's shadow looked like any other's and Rukia's looked faded. Ichigo's...

Ryou blinked. Then blinked again.

It looked normal enough now, but he would have sworn he saw-

_/I saw it too./_ Bakura's voice echoed in his head. _/His shadow laughed./_

A glint of light off a speeding car, the orange haired boy's shadow once more twisted, making it look like it was leering at them.

_/The hollow's twisted shadows reach him,/_ Bakura observed.

_/But his shadow isn't as dark as normal hollows./_

_/No.../_ There was a pause and Ryou could almost feel a buzz as Bakura muttered to himself in his soul room before letting the hikari hear his conclusion: _/What is he?/_

"Ryou? Hello, Earth to Ryou~?"

Ryou blinked, flinching away from a hand waving close to his face. He looked up to see three confused and worried teens.

"You spaced out," carrot top supplied. "Is something wrong?"

"Sorry. I must have had an absence seizure." Ryou rubbed the back of his head, a light tinge of pink on his face.

"Absence seizure?" The smaller girl asked, her black eyes widening in accordance with her worry.

"Aren't you supposed to be taken to the hospital as soon as you have a seizure?" Carrot top asked.

"No, no!" Ryou waved his hands in front of him, trying to placate them. "I'm fine, really! It's not that kind of seizure!"

"During an absence seizure, I stare off into space. My mind pauses, like it's absent. Hence the name, 'absence' seizure. It's nothing to worry about! It's just annoying at times."

The spirit chuckled. _/You actually found a medical condition to explain the 'zoning out' you do when we talk./_

"Okay!" Orihime chirped, reacting to the odd condition better than the others. "I guess you didn't hear my introductions, then."

Ryou flushed and shook his head.

"Then we'll do it again! Rukia, Ichigo, this is Ryou Bakura."

Ryou bowed, although he kept his eyes trained on Ichigo.

"Ryou, this is Rukia Kuchki and Ichigo Kurosaki."

The petite girl bowed and said, "Nice to meet you," while carrot top mumbled a greeting. Introductions over and done with, they started on the walk to school.

"Isn't it against school dress code to wear flashy jewelery like that?" Rukia asked, pointing to the Millennium Ring.

Ryou absently traced the Eye of Horus symbol in the middle of the gold pendant. "I hope not. This was a gift from my father."

"Where'd he get it? It looks Egyptian."

"It is. My father bought it from a merchant while working in Egypt several years ago."

Ryou felt a poke in his mind and let his darker half take over. Though his features sharpened at the possession, Bakura kept his voice soft like Ryou's.

"Speaking of trinkets, where did you get that?" Bakura asked, pointing to the badge at Ichigo's hip.

Ichigo opened and closed his mouth a few times before saying, "A...friend gave it to me."

"It started yelling 'hollow' in the middle of class, and no one took any notice."

In his soul room, Ryou shuffled his Duel Monsters cards, a nervous habit he had developed. How could they explain being able to see the hollow? What if they found out Bakura had killed it? What if-

Bakura growled through the mental link. _/Yadonushi. Pay attention./_

Ryou continued shuffling, but focused on the world outside his mind.

* * *

><p>Ichigo started to stutter a response, unsure how to answer the question and how much to tell Ryou. Lucky for him, Orihime came to his rescue.<p>

"You can see spirits as well? That's so cool!"

'Ryou's' eyes widened. "That monster thing was a spirit?"

He stopped in his tracks at that moment, so they paused as well and waited for the seizure to pass.

When he blinked, Rukia said, "There are two kinds of spirits: plus spirits, the ones that look like normal people; and hollows, ones that look like what you saw yesterday."

Ichigo muttered under his breath, "At least you forgot your sketchbook at home."

A few minutes later, Ichigo sported a bump on the back of his head and glowered at passing cars. Rukia had a wide, innocent smile to beam at Ryou.

"I've only seen hollows so far in my life. I'd like to see one of the plus spirits."

Ichigo grinned at 'Ryou', ignoring the pounding pain in his head. "I'll show you one after school, then."

* * *

><p>Ryou spent his morning classes of his first -or second, depending on how you look at it- day of school in the company of fangirls and fanboys (be it for his looks or celebrity status in the world of Duel Monsters, he couldn't tell). Class was a blessing, as it was the only time he could be free from them, even if he spent the time trying to ignore Bakura's teasing and the adoring stares burn holes in his uniform. After his last class before lunch, Ryou ran out of the room, determined to escape the love-struck crowd. He ran in to Orihime, and almost burst into tears at the sight of her. She led him to the roof, where students could spend their lunch hour.<p>

"Ryou, this is Uryuu Ishida," Orihime gestured to a dark-blue-haired young man with glasses, who bowed. Orihime then gestured to a much taller and more muscular person with a dark complexion, who bowed as well. "-And this is Yasutora Sado, although we call him Chad."

Ryou bowed in kind before sitting with the rest of Orihime's friends to enjoy lunch. Their classes had been scattered, so he didn't have an opportune time to meet everyone until then.

"So, Ryou," Uryuu asked, trying out the name, "Why did you move to Karakura?"

"Two weeks ago, a bunch of students, including myself, fell into comas during school."

Everyone froze. Bakura dissolved into shrieking laughter at his light's blunt answer. Ryou knew, without a doubt, that they had been expecting something like, "My father got a job here," or "My mother always wanted to live in Karakura." But neither of those were true and Ryou didn't want to lead them in circles before finally coming to the same answer.

Orihime's hand flew to her mouth. Ichigo choked on his food and Chad had to pound him on the back. Rukia recovered first, choking out, "H-how?"

Ryou shrugged and found his gaze drawn to his lunch, suddenly unable to meet anyone's eyes.

"I don't know. One minute I was listening to the science teacher explain cell division, the next I'm waking up in a hospital being told a week's gone by. My father doesn't want something like that to happen again and he doesn't think it's safe there, so here I am."

"What about everyone else?" Rukia asked.

Another shrug. "As far as I know, they're still in comas."

Lunch resumed in silence, occasionally broken when someone attempted to restart conversation.

* * *

><p>Soon lunch was over, and everyone headed to their afternoon classes.<p>

Ever the helpful one, Orihime asked Ryou, "Do you need any help finding your next class?"

Ryou looked at his schedule. "I have math next."

"With what teacher?" Uryuu asked immediately, trying and failing to keep the anticipation out of his voice.

"I'm not sure how to pronounce it."

Uryuu glanced at the paper. "We have the same class. I'll show you where." The two started through the halls, with Uryuu leading the way.

"Ryou," Uryuu asked suddenly. When he didn't get an answer, he noticed that Ryou was staring off into space. "Ryou?"

Ryou tore away from his staring contest with his book. "Yes?"

"Are you...by any chance," Uryuu started, clutching his books harder than necessary in an effort to keep calm, "related to Miu Chiyoko Bakura?"

"Yes, she was my aunt. Why do you ask?"

Relief washed over Uryuu. Another one of his family members was alive. Of course, he only allowed a somber smile to grace his face. "She was my mother."

A similar expression crossed Ryou's face, as though to say he understood. "I guess that makes us cousins. I wonder why my father never mentioned you."

"We'll have to talk sometime. Perhaps over the weekend?"

The albino nodded, and Uryuu walked to his seat as the teacher walked in. The teacher introduced Ryou to the class and assigned him a seat.

"Now, it's important you know the formula for the volume of a cone..."

Uryuu dutifully copied the formula in his notes, pushing back emotions and questions he was sure would distract him. One question still plagued him, though.

Why hadn't Ryuken told him about Ryou?

* * *

><p>Absence seizures are a real thing. Real-life, the condition starts around the ages of 9-14, and usually goes away after the age of 19. The treatment is some sort of medicine, but I didn't look into that too much. The afflicted can have 30-50 episodes lasting from a few seconds to half a minute in one day. In said episodes, they can have typical or atypical. Typical: stares off into space. Atypical: Lasts a bit longer than typical and the person does small muscle movements, like tensing and relaxing muscles, blinking repetitively, etc.<p>

My mom used to think I had absence seizures since I had a habit of staring off into space when thinking, and I would barely remember what I was thinking about seconds later. My memory's weird like that. I have no idea if she still thinks I have them or not.

Anyway. When I kept reading about Ryou and Yugi staring off into space when in their soul rooms or talking to their yamis, I instantly thought of absence seizures. I've read nearly all fanfictions that aren't AU with Ryou in them, and never once have I come across absence seizures used as an excuse. It's the most obvious excuse I can think of!

I unwittingly let my friend take a peek at the rough draft of chapter 4 in my notebook the other day. As it was the rough draft, the page she looked at had many words you would find in casual speech and no fancy description at all. In short, she took it all in a, ahem, dirty way. A conversation about hollows and shadows between Bakura and Ryou turned into yaoi in her mind.

*shudders*

Anyway. Long author's note, but not nearly as long as some I've seen in the HPxYGO fandom. So, anyone have any ideas? How will Bakura slip up and act non-Ryou, making everyone suspiscious?


	4. Shadows and Stalkers

Reviews, reviews...how I love them. I like being told what's wrong with my story. I like being told what's good with my story. I like having my readers predict what is to come in future chapters. I like readers deciding what is to come in future chapters. All in all, I like reviews. I've been feeling lonely lately. Reviews make me feel better.

Reiraku: Ability to see ribbons signifying spiritual power in people.

Quincy: Race of humans that can summon spirit bows with which to destroy hollows. Uryuu is the last of them.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

The lights flickered when he passed, shadows swelled around him. He mingled with the shadows, vanishing despite his white mane of hair. A star in the night, blinking in and out of existence from one moment to the next. One's eyes would lose him if they didn't have any purpose to follow.

However, one had purpose.

One that walked with arrogance, his sneakers crunching on the sidewalk. No shadows hid him, the light ricochetting off his glasses to play games on the buildings and signs. Through his eyes, he could see threads of light drifting from each and every person. His eyes flickered and narrowed as the shock of white disappeared once more. Almost every person.

The shock appeared in the spotlight of another lamp. A black thread swirled around him, causing the light to flicker before the shadows consumed the figure.

Earlier, the stalker had noticed a grey ribbon coming from the same figure, but now, that ribbon was strangely absent. He intended to find out why. The longer the night dragged on, the shadow figure slid into the shadows more often and quickened his pace.

The figure stopped. He turned to glance at his stalker, who saw only a glint of red before he took off running, no longer caring for the cover of the shadows.

Uryuu cursed and sped up as well, not one to give up chase. The number of people out and about dwindled the farther they went until they came to deserted streets. By then Uryuu found himself gasping for breath, but the one to start running showed no signs of fatigue.

He glanced behind him again, this time Uryuu discovered the red was the color of his eyes. He closed those eyes and reached out, as though holding hands with close friends. The person clearly concentrating on something, Uryuu tried to figure out what.

An inhumane roar was enough to alert him about the rampaging hollow. Uryuu started to reach for his spirit bow, but stopped, remembering he no longer had that power. Instead he shouted, to at least alert the person to the danger.

The person jumped, and cursed loudly in another language. The hollow noticed Uryuu at the same time and switched direction, obviously intending to have a nice Quincy dinner.

Fear seized Uryuu, but he shook it off and ran for his life. He could hear someone cursing in what sounded like...annoyance? Uryuu just saved him!

The anger and sense of having saved someone fueled Uryuu for a time, but not forever. He slipped into an alley to try to escape, but of course, the hollow followed his spirit pressure and quickly had him cornered.

"Now I have you," the hollow sneered, breaking into a cruel laugh.

"I summon Dark Necrofear!"

A blue, bald woman appeared in front of Uryuu, the broken doll in her arms turning its head to chatter its teeth at him. Within moments, both the hollow and woman were gone, leaving nothing between Uryuu and the shadow figure.

Uryuu stepped forward, and the figure vanished, having walked in the shadows once more.

* * *

><p>Halfway across town, Bakura emerged from the shadows, as though he had been there the entire time.<p>

Bakura mentally prodded Ryou, who soon appeared in spirit form beside him, yawning.

"Get back in your soul room!" Bakura hissed.

Ryou, surprised, did as he was told, though the question leaked through the link.

"I don't trust this town-"

_/You don't trust anyone./_

"Quiet," snapped Bakura, "Too many mortals here can see hollows. I don't yet know for sure if that means they can also see us in spirit form."

/Then why can't I come out and test that theory?/

"I'd prefer to remain a secret."

_/Why are you talking out loud, then?/_

"Yadonushi, I've told you before. People will think you're insane, and thus, stay away from you."

_/How will that help you?/_

"Your 'mood swings' will be expected, and so less suspicion will be cast on us. Now, I believe I had a bit of training for you in mind."

_/What kind of training?/_

Bakura's wicked grin, combined with his ghostly skin, gave him the appearance of a poltergeist. He turned a corner to a dark alley.

_/Yami?/_

Ryou found himself in control, staring at a bone-white mask.

Mentally pounding on the door to Bakura's soul room, Ryou reached to the shadows, brushing against the evil aura, trying to ignore the sudden feeling of despair. His hands went forward, careful not to touch the mask. If he touched the hollow, it would become aware of his presence. And that would not be good.

The shadows leapt from his fingers, snapping at the suddenly trembling creature like starved hounds. It disappeared without a sound, devoured by beings far more grotesque.

_/Yami?/_ Ryou tried again. Bakura appeared in spirit form.

"You forgot to say the words," Bakura stated. He leveled his gaze at Ryou. "You're getting much better. We'll move to teleporting soon."

Ryou said nothing, already patting himself down in another one of his searches. Ryou whirled on Bakura.

"What did you do?" he accused, having found nothing.

"I went hollow-hunting for you. Last night I scouted out the area. I must say, I enjoyed your panic over that. You gave me a few ideas, too."

Ryou bit his lip. Bakura chuckled.

"Seeing as we're on the other side of town, I'll teleport us back to the apartment."

Shadows consumed them.

* * *

><p>"I heard you're popular for playing some card game. What's that about?" Ichigo asked as everyone gathered on the roof for lunch. The memory still troubled Ryou, but he answered anyway.<p>

"I've taken part in Battle City, a worldwide Duel Monsters tournament, and made it to fifth place in the worldwide rankings."

"What was it like?"

"I can't really remember. It's all a blur. I think it was because I managed to electrocute myself during a duel," Ryou said. In truth, it was because Bakura had full control the entire time and kept Ryou asleep in his soul room.

The group pouted at the lack of interetsing details, but stayed optimistic and asking questions.

"Have you ever moved before?"

"Tons of times. I lived in England for the first seven years of my life before my mother and sister lost their lives in a car accident."

Sympathetic gazes all around and a single "I'm sorry." A few heads bowed as they recollected the memories of their own losses.

"After that, I went to all sorts of different schools and foreign countries. Japanese is my second language, French is my third."

"Wow. You have a gift for languages," Orihime commented, "I'm barely passing my English classes!"

Ryou shrugged. "I had to. But for once I'd like to finish a school year without any problems."

"What does your dad do that requires you to move so much?"

"It's not what my father does. He's an archeologist; he works in Egypt and a few museums."

Uryuu asked, "Then why do you move so much?" at the same time Ichigo asked, "Why doesn't your dad live with you?"

They glared at each other. Ryou could sense a rivalry between them.

"Father is constantly excavating archeological digs in Egypt. Since I'm albino, I'm very sensitive to the sun and can't stay outside very long over there. There aren't many schools there, either."

"Albino?" Orihime cut in, peering intently as Ryou's eyes. Ichigo leaned forward as well. "I thought albinos had red eyes. You have brown."

"That's a myth," Uryuu refuted, "Not all albinos have red pupils."

Uryuu returned his attention to Ryou. "You still haven't answered my question: Why do you move so much?"

Ryou strained a smile. "If you don't mind, I'd rather not answer that."

The group wanted to pester him about it, their curiosity peaked, but fell silent.

"So," Ryou started, breaking the silence, "Do any of you play role-playing games?"

* * *

><p>When Uryuu stepped inside the apartment, the first thing he noticed was the sheer amount of things that had some relation to Egypt. Posters, statues, books, a tablecloth, coasters. A small cardboard box in the corner spilled over with more possessions, all of them Egyptian in some way, waiting to be put in their proper places.<p>

"You can put your bag anywhere," Ryou said, setting his own shoulderbag next to a recliner. Uryuu followed his example.

"Make yourself at home. I'm going to change out of this uniform."

Uryuu settled himself in the recliner as Ryou vanished in to another room. He picked up a book, titled Egyptian Tombs. The book had tales of treasures and legends of ancient curses.

"Would you like something to drink, Uryuu?" Ryou's voice carried from the kitchen. Uryuu realized he spent some time reading the book and hadn't noticed when Ryou went in the kitchen. "We only have tea, if that's alright."

"That's fine."

Uryuu closed the book and looked at its cover. There was the picture of a dog's head on a man's body.

"Anubis."

Uryuu's head jerked up, coming almost nose-to-nose with Ryou- No, not Ryou. Ryou had a gentle smile and brown eyes. This look-alike had a blank expression, glaring through narrow red eyes.

The copy disappeared, without sound and without warning, as though he had never been there in the first place.

"Ryou? Is there anyone else here?"

"What? No, it's just me." Ryou's head popped up from around the corner. "And I was in the kit-" he froze mid-sentence before picking up several seconds later, "-chen the entire time."

Uryuu frowned in confusion and put the book back. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, I didn't tell you yet, did I?" Comprehension dawned on Ryou, and he gained an apologetic look. "I have absence seizures."

"Oh." Uryuu blinked, all thoughts of doppelgangers dissolving from his mind. "Are you on medication for it?"

"N-no," Ryou stuttered, obviously not expecting that question.

Uryuu frowned. "Why not?"

"The treatment-" Ryou cast his gaze to the left. "-doesn't work for me. They kept increasing the dosage, with no decrease in the number or severity of the seizures, until I passed out."

"Which drug did they have you on? There are a lot of antiepileptic drugs."

"All sorts of drugs. I can't remember exactly how many."

"My father owns a hospital. He can check your medical file and prescribe you something that might work."

Ryou's eyes widened. "I've been to many places and many hospitals, all of which prescribed something that didn't work."

"You're in a new town. Ryuken might have something new."

"Maybe, but it probably won't work and I'll just get sick. Ah! The tea!" Ryou disappeared once more into the kitchen. He appeared a moment later, two glasses in his hands. Uryuu accepted a glass and Ryou set his on the table.

"Do you want to play Monster World-" Ryou's soft features gained a sinister smile and leering eyes, even a creeping low voice. "-or Duel Monsters?"

* * *

><p>"Ichigo."<p>

Ichigo blinked. "Keigo?" He'd seen his friend trying to hide and appear sneaky the past few days, supposedly spying on the new kid.

"Ichigo," Keigo repeated, as though that would somehow increase the importance of whatever he wanted to say, "There's something wrong with that new kid."

Ichigo said the first thing that came to mind: "He's an albino."

"Not that," Kigo insisted, sounding like a whine, "I've heard rumours about albino-boy."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the nickname, but for the most part ignored it. "So? they're just rumours."

"All rumours have some root in truth. They say he's put kids in comas, and they didn't wake up until last year!"

"You sure about that? Sounds a bit far-fetched."

"It's true! that's why he's always moving! His old man doesn't want him in trouble, so they move before the police can pin the blame!"

And eerie feeling crept on Ichigo as he realized he was starting to believe his friend. "But he's kind and polite," he protested.

Keigo shook his head disapprovingly. "Albino-boy ain't got no pancake mix, Ichigo."

* * *

><p>Longest chapter I've ever written. I could get into the habit of this.<p>

All medical information is true. It's amazing how many ideas you can get from researching medical conditions.

The Q&A sessions with Ichigo's friends are getting annoying.

I think the next chapter is quite hilarious.

I'm starting a new YGOxHP fanfic soon. It's somewhat the same as this one; same timeline with YGO and I have Ryou and Bakura with the same personalities as they do in this story. The difference is that, instead of going to Karakura after waking from the coma, Ryou goes to Hogwarts (no hollows, either). See my profile for more details on Dissociative Magics.


	5. Lil' Schizo

Review replies are located at the bottom of chapters, since I'm not yet used to the new way of replying to them.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

When Uryuu chose to play Duel Monsters, a sense of foreboding settled on his shoulders, and he didn't think it was because he was playing against the fifth best in the world.

"You can borrow one of my decks," Ryou said, digging in the abandoned box for a second deck.

"Go easy on me," Uryuu joked.

They shuffled decks, and drew cards. Uryuu found himself appalled by the myriad of grotesque monsters Ryou favored, and was glad his borrowed deck had the level of morbidity toned down. When Ryou played, he didn't flash a soft smile, instead fixing Uryuu and the cards with a calculating stare. Those dark eyes undermined his confidence and made him want to stop, but he refused to show his fear. This was a side of Ryou he hadn't seen before.

Before he knew it, the game was over, leaving Uryuu hardly able to restrain his shaking. A sneer began to form on Ryou's face, but it instead melted into an apologetic smile.

"That was a good duel. Do you want to play Monster World now?"

"I-I th-think-" Uryuu paused and swallowed thickly. "I think I should go home now."

"Really?" Uryuu could see a frown tugging at Ryou's lips. "Well, we can play some other time."

Uryuu nodded, not trusting his tongue. After a quick goodbye, he slipped out the door and made it as far as the window before he let his knees buckle. the duel had been intense.

As Uryuu calmed his racing heart, he heard Ryou's voice, probably talking on the phone. Then he heard the other side of the conversation.

"I'd like to see this 'Ryuken'," a voice said. Uryuu couldn't quite place where he had heard it. But didn't Ryou say no one else was home?

"Who's Ryuken?" This voice was soft; Ryou.

"Your uncle. Your cousin mentioned him."

This person must have eavesdropped on their conversation- Uryuu stopped that train of thought. He could have overheard them from another room.

"I want to find out why your father never shipped you off to join him." So he knew the voice wasn't Ryou's father. Something clicked in Uryuu's mind. He'd heard this voice only moments ago, announcing the effects of his attacks, explaining the damage of trap cards, and rather arrogantly proclaiming when it was his turn. Ryou was talking...with himself?

"You know why. Father didn't want to lose another family relation." What was he talking about? Did his father not want him far away? If that was the case, then why was he always in Egypt?

"True," Ryou's dueling voice said in a dismissive tone.

Uryuu dared not make a sound, certain he would lose Ryou's trust if he found him eavesdropping. Carefully and slowly, Uryuu turned around and craned his neck to see inside. He saw Ryou, and no one else, setting up more Egyptian decorations.

A sudden ringing, almost causing Uryuu to flinch and give away his position. He relaxed when he realized it was only the phone, which Ryou answered.

"Malik! Yes, it's me." Ryou chuckled, then cut off. "He's asleep. We just dueled against someone, who apparently is my cousin on Father's side."

Ryou continued talking, but switched languages every few seconds, making it impossible for Uryuu to piece together anything coherent. He didn't care about that at the moment. He was more concerned about his cousin, who had mental disorders that made him crazier than his disgusting monster cards.

Uryuu walked away from the apartment. He put a hand on his head and chuckled. His cousin was crazy. Joy.

* * *

><p>While chatting with a plus soul, a young translucent girl, Ichigo noticed Ryou carrying grocery bags.<p>

"Oi, Ryou!" Ichigo motioned for him to come over. Ryou came over and put the plastic bags down. When he did so, Ichigo caught a glance at the contents: one was filled with meat, the other filled with rice and vegetables. He glanced at the anorexic-thin albino. He passed it off as high metabolism.

"I never did show you a plus soul, did I?"

Ryou shook his head. Ichigo put a hand on top of the little girl's head.

"This is Jenny."

"Ichi-nii," said the girl from beneath the hand, replacing Ichigo's name with one of her own, "Who are you talking to?"

Ichigo kneeled down and smiled at Jenny. "This is my friend, Ryou."

"Who are you talking to?" Ryou repeated the soul's question.

"Jenny."

"Are you sure you're not seeing things? I don't see anyone." What was going on? If Ryou could see hollows, he would be able to see plus spirits.

"I thought you could see souls!"

"I can see hollows. I guess I can't see plus spirits." Ryou looked uncomfortable, and for a moment, stared straight at the girl. Something wasn't right.

"Ichi-nii?" Jenny asked, voice filled with naive innocence, "Why are you talking to air?"

"I'm talking to Ryou," Ichigo repeated.

"Oh, I get it! Ryou's your imaginary friend! Hello, Ryou!" Jenny waved, like greeting a friend, facing a little off to Ryou's right.

"You really don't see him?"

"'Course I do! He's got hair just like yours!"

Ryou perked up. "She can't see me either? Can they usually see living humans?"

Ichigo nodded, thinking hard on the two's odd behavior. "I don't know why she can't see you."

Ryou stared at Ichigo. When he didn't move for ten seconds, Ichigo took a few steps to the side. When Ryou's eyes didn't follow him, he waited. When it was over, Ryou picked up the bags.

"I should get this food home before it spoils. See you at school."

Ichigo sent glances at Jenny and Ryou. He bit his lip, and decided to ask, "Before you go, can you tell me why you move so much?"

Ryou froze. A shudder seemed to course through him. He continued on, repeating the same answer he had given Uryuu, but with no warmth.

"If you don't mind, I'd rather not answer that."

* * *

><p>"Rukia, can you teach me how to fight with weapons?"<p>

Rukia did a double take, as though she hadn't heard him right. When Ryou tracked her to the soccer field, she'd expected something...different. Something that would actually require the mental pep talk he seemed to be giving himself.

Ryou rubbed the back of his head and found the goal posts to stare at. "I asked Uryuu, but he said you had more experience, so-"

"Why do you want to learn?" Rukia asked, no suspicion in her voice. Innocent until proven guilty, after all.

"W-well, I move a lot, I'm alone most of the time, and my father can't always afford for me to live in some of the...better...parts of town."

Rukia attacked Ryou with a sudden hug, ignoring his flinch and hiss of pain.

"You poor thing! Of course I'll teach you!"

"Th-thank-k y-you, Ruk-kia." Ryou struggled to free himself from the midget girl. She released, glowing with happiness.

"Do rien." _(It's nothing.)_ Ryou lit up at the sound of the familiar language.

"Tu parles français?" _(You speak French?)_

"Oui oui, c'est un très beau langue!" _(Yes yes, it is a very beautiful language!)_

"Où est-ce que tu as appris français?" _(Where did you learn French?)_

"J'ai-" _(I [past tense])_ Rukia was interrupted by her cell phone. She flipped it open and glanced at the screen before snapping it closed and looking at Ryou.

"Excuse-moi, je dois y aller." _(Sorry, I have to go.)_

Switching back to Japanese, she said, "After school tomorrow I'll show you a place we can spar."

Without missing a beat, Rukia gave Ryou a customary French goodbye, and was off running.

"Au revoir!" _(Goodbye!)_ she called behind her.

* * *

><p>That second scene was bad. Very very bad. I apologize for it.<p>

Not as long as I had hoped, but I'm also working on Dissociative Magics, which chapter three of is at least 3,500 words so far.

Yeah, the characters randomly started talking in French. I thought it would be funny. I made Ryou know that language so I could have something like this. I take French class. Blame that. I gave translations to how someone would say that in a casual English conversation.

LadyDragonIchi: Discipline. I've been forcing myself to write at least a few hundred words every day, and now I can write whatever I want, whenever I want; writer's block doesn't exist for me anymore. I force myself to brainstorm story ideas instead of daydreaming or drawing in my free time, and whatever I think of ends up as these chapters.

Nebelkind: Nebel is a cute name. Sounds like New bell. I'll call you Nebel. I was stuck on a blank for this chapter, so you didn't exactly predict anything. More like you _decided_ what was going to happen. I got a lot of ideas from your review. You'll be my little idea-generator. I wrote the bit with Uryuu before you reviewed, so your prediction of him was correct. But, he just thinks his cousin is crazy. Someone else will catch on in the way you suggested.


	6. Sword Fighting

I know nothing about sword fighting. All of my knowledge comes from the Drizzt books and this little movie playing in my head. Writing the sparring was fun.

Shinigami -death god, soul reaper

Konso -soul burial (sends plus souls to Soul Society)

Zanpakuto -(no real translation, but it's the physical weapon manifestation of the reflection of a shinigami's soul)

* * *

><p>Wooden blades cut through the air at unnatural speeds, frequently coming together in successful defenses. The combatants flew at each other again and again, skidding, ducking, leaping over the borrowed training grounds. A black cat watched from a distance, paying far more attention than any normal cat would.<p>

"Where did you learn to fight?" Rukia asked, impressed. Even if his moves were graceful, his slashes were awkward, and that had nothing to do with his bandaged hand. He had never used Japanese-style weapons before. Ryou smirked, that kind of grin alien to his soft face.

"A friend tried teaching me, but I moved away before I could learn too much. I've been picking up other information and incorporating it into my fighting style since then." Rukia somehow doubted that, but said nothing. Neither of them panting, they slid back into stances, wooden practice swords at the ready.

Ryou held a stance more suited for two smaller blades, but adjusted and held the sword at an unusual angle. Rukia's stance was one she learned during her academy days in Soul Society, wielding the sword with practiced ease.

They flew at each other once more, neither backing down to the challenge presented. Ryou's battle plan included many feints, blocking at the last possible second, and relied on slipping around the opponent through a series of feints and blocks to stab them in a pressure point. In short, the kind of strategy one would expect from an assassin. They broke apart.

"I don't think that's your kind of weapon. Your stance would be better with something smaller, with one in each hand."

Ryou nodded. "That might be better."

Rukia opened the chest full of practice weapons, and withdrew two dagger-sized bits of wood.

The flurry of fighting began again. Rukia noticed Ryou relaxed at the divided weight in his hands, but he didn't drop his defenses. If anything, Rukia had to work harder to avoid finding herself slashing at air.

When they stopped for a rest, neither of them having won, their breath coming out in heavy gasps.

"You're really good. I haven't done sparring like that for a while," Rukia said.

Ryou laughed; a harsh, barking sound. "Likewise. I picked up a few things from you."

"Do rien," Rukia said, slipping into French again. Ryou kept to Japanese, to her disappointment.

"I was worried my non-traditional training would put me at a disadvantage. I guess my worrying was for nothing. Same time and place to tomorrow?"

Rukia mopped the sweat from her brow and smiled at him. "Of course."

Ryou picked up his school bag and left, leaving Rukia to pack up the practice swords. Once finished with that, she went up the ladder and out the shop.

Her soul phone beeped. She flipped it open to see the pulsating dot on the screen, alerting her to a nearby hollow. She popped a soul candy in her mouth, and her soul separated from her body, dressed not in the school uniform, but in traditional black clothing from . She ran down the street. The body, now inhabited by an artificial soul, stayed at the shop.

She saw Ryou jogging in the same direction, an identical figure next to him. As she neared, the second figure became Ryou's reflection on a glass window. The hollow roared, leaping off the rooftops.

"Ryou!" Rukia yelled, "Look out!"

Ryou dived out the path of the hollow, recovering through a barrel roll. The hollow's landing destroyed a few benches and a mailbox. Rukia unsheathed her zanpakuto and charged at the hollow. She was forced to block a slice from a giant claw, and noticed out of the corner of her eye Ryou ducking behind the hollow. Two soot-covered daggers appeared in his hands. Rukia lost sight of him as a second claw came down on her. She jumped out of the way and used that opportunity to escape the first claw, her sword sliding away with a flash of white sparks from the friction.

The hollow drew its claw back, and Rukia raised her sword in a defensive position. The blow never came, replaced by a howl. Rukia shot around for a second hollow, but none could be seen. The first hollow's claw remained raised, trembling, the rest of the creature shaking with it.

Rukia's eyes widened. She had seen this before a few days prior. Something else had killed that hollow, and apparently it was after this one too. Taking advantage of the paralysed hollow, Rukia jumped at the chance and sliced its dog-like mask.

The hollow disintegrating, Rukia grabbed a wide-eyed Ryou and flash-stepped them both back to Urahara's shop.

"Are you okay?" Ryou asked, voice filled with worry.

"I'm fine." Rukia's voice turned sharp. "What did you think you were doing?"

Ryou looked shocked. "I was trying to help!"

"Normal weapons can't hurt hollows," she scoffed.

"What about your sword?" Ryou demanded, all traces of shock gone.

"It's my zanpakuto; it purifies hollows. I'm a shinigami, you're not. You could have had an absence seizure out there, and then who knows what could have happened?"

Ryou stopped at one word: "Shinigami? A death god?"

"It's our duty to help souls pass on, either through a soul burial or what happened back there."

"Where do they go?" Ryou flipped from worry to demanding, and now to genuine curiosity. It frustrated her, but she calmed herself down and answered him.

"Soul Society. It's like normal life in an old-fashioned setting, except no one ever goes hungry unless they're destined to be a shinigami."

"So you're dead?"

"Yes. I'm older than you by four of your lifetimes." Rukia's temper refused to be quelled. "So let me take care of hollows!"

"Rukia, how old can shinigami live to?"

"Thousands of years, but it's very rare to find one over a thousand. We usually die of natural causes or from physical injuries." Rukia told herself that once this child's curiosity was satisfied, he would do as she said.

"How old can plus souls live?"

Odd question, but a question nonetheless. "In the living world, not long. A hollow might eat them or their chain will wear away, turning them into a hollow. That's if we don't get to preform a konso first. In Soul Society, they live indefinitely, long enough for them to forget their time among the living. Then they're reborn."

Her anger boiled over. "You could have been killed! You have no way to fight them and if you had an absence seizure it would have doomed-!"

Rukia broke off, realizing Ryou had missed what would have turned into a viscous rant, instead dealing with said medical problem.

* * *

><p>I just noticed you readers might get confused with the names 'Ryou' and 'Rukia'. For the sword fight, I wanted to show that Bakura was evenly matched with most shinigami.<p>

**Nebel**: I don't know what it actually sounds like, but it looks like it sounds like new bell from an English-speaking point of view. My penname is French for Silver heart. Sometimes people shorten it to Argent, silver. Bakura wants someone to spar with, and to learn a few things. Of course with muscle memory most of the training passes to Ryou. I think I'm making Ichigo a bit OOC with paranoia. As for finding out about Bakura, well, if I give you a hint that'll give away that idea. But that won't be for a while. I want to wait for other events to come to pass.


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